-
Jan 1, 1000
Obelisks 3500(B.C.)
In 3500BC the Egyptians were the first civilization to keep time. They used obelisks, which were usually tall 4-sided monuments that casted shadows to keep general time. -
Jan 1, 1400
Water Clock (BC)
Hours were marked on the sides of either sides of the bowl that received the water being poured in. Others measured time according to the amount of water. As the water level changed, the wheel turned and indicated the hour of a day. -
Jan 1, 1469
The Hourglass
Free flowing sand goes from one carvity of a glass to another. This was used by natives to find the speed of a ship. -
Jan 1, 1500
Sundial (B.C.)
The Egyptians then used thre “shadow clock” or sundial. Greeks and Romans also used the sundial.The sundial was divided into 10 parts, with two twilight hours. This sundial only kept accurate time for a half day, until it had to be turned. -
Jan 1, 1504
Pocket Watch
The first portable (but not very accurate) timepiece was invented by Peter Henlein. It was a small watch that could fit into a persons pocket. -
Jan 1, 1577
The Minute Hand
Jost Burgi invented the minute hand. Burgi's invention was part of a clock made for Tycho Brahe, an astronomer who needed an accurate clock for his stargazing. -
Pendulum (AD)
Galileo found that each pendulum has a constant period, this happened no matter what the weight of the pendulum was.. The period is the time in which a pendulum completes a single oscillation. -
Cuckoo Clock
A peddler who sold glass from the Black Forest to foreign countries, returned with a clock, from the land of Böhmen (today's Czech Republic). So the technique and the idea was born somewhere different – but the Cuckoo Clock as we know it today comes form the Black Forest. This was a clock that simply cuckoo'd when striking the half hours. -
Prototype Wristwatch
The first reported person to actually wear a watch on the wrist was the French mathematician and philosopher, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). With a piece of string, he attached his pocket watch to his wrist. -
Time Pendulum
Christiaan Hugens designed the first weight driven clock, this was the most weight driven clock at his time. It was not as accurate as it could be. -
Grandfather Clock
The grandfather clock was a pendulum clock, except it was made longer by George Graham, this caused temperature variations. The mechanical clock continued to develop until it achieved an accuracy of a hundredth of a second. -
Electric Clock
Alexander Bain was the first to invent and patent the electric clock. Alexander Bain took out another important patent describing a clock in which an electromagnetic pendulum and an electric current is employed to keep the clock going instead of springs or weights. Later patents expanded on his original ideas. But eletric clocks were not widely used until 1890 when electricity became more availible. -
Potato Clocks
These spring-wound pieces consisted of a glass cylinder with a column inside, affixed to which were small digital cards with numbers printed on them, which flipped as time passed. These clocks paved the way for digiital clocks. Now, we can hook potatoes to a digital clock set up using copper wire, and have a digital clock. -
Self-Winding Watch
Swiss John Harwood invented the watch where you could turn the hands back and fourth to the most accurate time. -
Time on the Radio
The National Bureau of Standards begins broadcasting time signals on shortwave radio station in Washington, D.C. -
Quartz
Warren Marrison, a telecommunications engineer, was searching for reliable frequency standards at Bell Telephone Laboratories. Building on earlier work in piezoelectricity, he developed a very large, highly accurate clock based on the regular vibrations of a quartz crystal in an electrical circuit. -
Electric Digital Clock
Edgar Bourguin received patent for the "Minitmaster". The Minitmaster has a moulded black plastic case, gold finished ornaments, and a front metal panel with an etched design. It was the first electric digital clock. -
Digital Wristwatch
The first digital wristwatch with an LED display was mass-produced. Called the Pulsar, and produced by the Hamilton Watch Company. -
Bib
http://www.timekeepingsite.org/clock.htm
http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/clock.htm
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1469.htm
http://blog.onlineclock.net/history-of-digital-clocks-watches/
http://www.timecenter.com/articles/ultimate-collection-of-clock-resources/
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/22437-the-first-electric-digital-clock--telec
http://www.clockworldonline.com/clocks-history-of-clocks
http://www.beaglesoft.co
http://www.wisedude.com/inventions_discoveries/clock.htm -
